Sunday, July 19, 2009

Jemmy Joe: clawhammer busker



I shot Jemmy Joe at the Berkeley Farmers' Market, and he gave me a cd. I listened to his music and was, at the time, reading a book by Annie Proulx called "Fine Just the Way It Is". This quote is from the book, and for me describes Jemmy Joe's art.

"...Archie McLaverty had a singing voice that once heard was never forgotten. It was a straight, hard voice, the words falling out halfway between a shout and a song. Sad and flat and without ornamentation, it expressed things felt but unsayable."

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